


Crimes for the Greater Good

by Cre_no



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Defacing of public property, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Not a lot of angst, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, for flavor, just a dash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 13:39:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15730506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cre_no/pseuds/Cre_no
Summary: Peter Parker is not a criminal. Let's get that right. He just needs to do a little defacing of public property in order to right a wrong. It's not his fault the school decided to commission a mural that included grade A asshole, Howard Stark.





	Crimes for the Greater Good

Peter and Tony hadn't gone too far into their pasts over the course of their past year or so of mentorship, but Peter knew enough to be aware of Tony’s obvious distaste for his father. The way his eyes hardened at the sound of the man’s name, the remnants of H.S technology he locked away from view, his endless struggle to end Howards “cycle of shame” with Peter. They all pointed to some very obvious, painful memories of the deceased man. If Peter hadn’t been sure already of the Starks’s jaded past, his mentor’s trip to Midtown yesterday would have made things clear.

Tony had come as a favor to Peter. The school was gathering local business owners to participate in a day long career exploration fair for the Juniors and Seniors headed off into the workforce soon. Students were encouraged to ask anyone they knew to come in to either give a speech or set up a booth. Peter contemplated asking May first, but quickly realized that if she was going to take some time off from her busy schedule, it should be for herself. His next thought, naturally, had been Mr. Stark.

After consulting May, Peter had resolved to ask the man during their Friday night check ins. At first the genius had been reluctant, claiming to have better things to do than preach what they already knew to a bunch of students; that S.I was the place to be. However, one argument of getting to miss Pepper’s loaded day of meeting and a pair of well timed puppy dog eyes got the man to relent rather quickly.

The day had gone well. The students were obviously thrilled to have the one and only Tony Stark/Iron man in their school. Tony had chosen to give a speech that included several flashing displays of technology and an over abundance of Stark Sarcasm. All in all it was a great day, definitely one for the memory book. 

Tony had promised they’d pick up something to eat after the convention seeing as the school day had been extended until almost dinner time to allow for all their guest to give their presentations. As they were headed towards the car, Peter remembered the math textbook he had left in his locker that he needed to study tonight. He had grinned sheepishly and asked if they could go back for it, which the billionaire had rolled his eyes at but complied with.

On their way back out Peter heard his mentor’s foot falls falter. Looking back, he saw the man looking to his left with a myriad of unpleasant emotions dancing across his features. Peter traced the path of his eyes and landed on the “Mural of Geniuses” painted across the archway. There, at the area closest to the exit, was a portrait of Howard Stark lined up with the likes of Tesla and Einstein. Before he could ask the man about it, Tony had continued his path down the hall, starting up a conversation about where they should head to eat, leaving Peter to catch up with him. The young man spared one last glance at the mur\ral before chasing after the superhero.

So that’s how Peter found himself here at his usual lunch table, conspiring to commit some slightly illegal acts with his two best friends. Peter had gone home last night after dinner with Mr. stark and drug up some less than flattering accounts of Tony and Howard’s relationship on the internet, and decided that a man who hurt Mr. Stark didn’t deserve to have murals painted of him. Now all he had to do was do something about it.

\---

“I don’t know man, isn’t that kind of illegal?” Ned’s skeptical voice brought Peter back to the present. “I mean, you’re spiderman.” he lowered his voice to a harsh whisper at the last word. “Wouldn't that, like, go against your moral code or something?”

“I say we do it.” MJ spoke, surprising the boys next to her, “I’m always down to take a glorified man down a peg. Besides, that mural is such a sausage fest. This gives the the opportunity to change that.” MJ had become officially privy to Peter’s night time escapades just a few weeks ago during a particularly hairy battle. Honestly, everyone knew she knew long before then, but oh well.

“Exactly! Ned, just think of it as a mission of justice! We need to stop this evil.” Seeing his best friend’s was still wary about the situation, Peter decided to whip out the big guns. “C’mon Ned! I’m gonna need my Guy in the Chair for this one!” he wined.

The shorter boy shot Peter a nasty look. “Fine. Fine! I’ll help you deface school property!” he relented after looking at his excitable bestie. “So what’s the plan?”

\---

Peter was lucky Ned agreed to come with. Honestly, he wasn’t kidding when he said he would need his guy in the chair. The group of three had agreed to meet a block away from the school at 10:00 PM to get things started. The plan was that Peter, in full spiderman mode, would find a clear path into the building via the roof. He would get the three of them in unnoticed, but from there it was up to Ned. Once boy’s laptop was close enough to latch onto the school wifi, he would hack into the security cameras in the hallways, programing them to play a continuous loop. From there it would be easy sailing. Peter provided the materials, and MJ provided the artistic ability to carry out the plan.

It all went according to plan, minus a small scare with a wayward mouse scaring the shit out of the painting team. Peter took a long, satisfied look at the work they’d done before hightailing it out of there before his Parker Luck kicked in. The team convened on the roof, satisfied and adrenaline fueled expressions of excitement seated on each of their faces.

“Great job A Team. I would call this mission a complete success.” Peter’s voice showing his excitement despite the mask firmly in place. “Now I’ve got to get you guys outta here, anyone need a web home?”

After dropping Ned off through his bedroom window and making sure MJ walked herself home safely, Spider-man did another hour and a half of patrol before making his way back to his own apartment. Patrol had been uneventful but rewarding all the same. He had saved two cats, helped three women get home safely, and stopped one biker from accidently swerving into traffic. All in all, it was a fantastic day, and the hero fell asleep with a smile on his face.

\---

The school was abuzz the next morning. By first period, everyone knew about the new state of the mural in the main building. Speculations few around about who could have done it. Apparently, Principle Morita was on the hunt for whoever defaced the mural, but Peter knew he wouldn’t find anything.

As far as Peter knew, most of the school was pleased with the newest change of events. Howard wasn’t exactly known for his kindness, and the students knew a good role model from a bad one. Plus, MJ’s extra unplanned but welcome additions to the hallway swayed the female population of Midtown to their side. If the good reviews kept up, they might even be able to convince the school to keep it as is.

At the end of the day Peter knew he needed to get Mr. Stark in to see their work. Today was a hangout/study day. It was a relatively new tradition wherein Tony tried to take one day out of the week that wasn’t a spiderman check in day to have a Peter Parker check in day with the kid in Queens. Tony would pick him up after decathlon and they would get food, work on homework, or just hang out at the apartment watching movies. Mr.Stark claimed “It’s important to make sure the kid behind the mask is ok too. Can’t have the spider-baby swingin around New York if Peter is distracted by a school-yard crush.”

So yeah, today was a hang out day. Before he headed out to meet his mentor in the parking lot, he made sure to leave his textbooks in his locker, with all the AP classes he was taking, it was just enough to warrant needing help getting them to the car. When he saw his mentor leaning against the bright orange car outside, he couldn’t help the little smile that landed on his face or the warmth filling his chest as the quickened his pace. Just as he was getting into the vehicle, he set his plan in motion.

“Oh no!” the young man cried, using the most pathetic voice he could muster, “I left all my textbooks back there. I was so excited to hang out I left them in my locker. Can we go get them?” The boy pulled out his best puppy dog eyes eyes. He had gotten better over the past year at lying, he still couldn’t hide anything big like breaking curfew or a large injury, but he could get by with the little things.

The older man gave him an incredulous look, “Why on earth would you need my help. Those oh so forgettable spider powers could let you lift this car.”

Catching on to the man’s suspicion, the teen scrambled to cover up, “I know! It’s just that there are so many of them and I only have so many hands because the spider bite didn’t give me, like, extra spider limbs because how fucked up would that be and I don’t want to drop them or-”

“Okay! Okay! You gotta breath kid, don’t want you having an aneurysm in my front seat.” At hearing the man’s slightly concerned voice and placating eyes, a small bubble to satisfaction fount it’s way into the kid’s chest. Peter had learned that the more he rambled, the more likely the person would listen just to get him to calm down. He was definitely getting better at this whole lying thing.

The duo made their way down through the school to the kid’s locker, making quick work of grabbing the large pile of texts, “What kind of fucked up school is this, making kids tug around 60 pounds of paper just for being smart. I should really look into a technology grant for this place so you can just keep all your books on a tablet.”

The two made their way back the way they came, passing the edited mural on their way. Peter watched as Tony did a double take after taking a quick glance around the hall, steps faltering as his eyes landed on the art in front of him.

Where Howard’s stoic profile was once displayed, his own smirking visage now sat. The portrait was clearly different from the rest of the mural with it’s fresh paint and slightly different art style, making it stand out even more from the wall. Peter had picked out the reference picture himself, going with one of the few out there of his mentor smiling.

Tony was dumbstruck. He wasn’t exactly known as the most glowing public figure, what with the rough history of alcoholism and weapons creation. Parents didn’t want their kids to grow up to be like Tony Stark. They didn’t want kids so fucked in the head that they had to hide their problems behind booze, money, and sarcasm. Tony Stark was the guy moms changed the channel on when his speeches started and dads clicked their tongues at while skimming the morning paper.

So who in their right mind would put his picture up in a center for child development?

Tony felt a presence shift beside him, snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts. Peter had moved closer, leaning in slightly to inspect the mural more closely. Looking down at the kid, Tony was struck with a thought.

“Did you happen to have anything to do with this, Underoos?” The slightly taller man asked. The kid looked up at him with too innocent eyes and a tilted head.

“Hu? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The boy denied. The lack of muddled of racing words may have convinced Tony of his innocence, if the kid wasn’t failing so bad at concealing a satisfied smirk.

“So if I checked your GPS history from last night I won’t see you lurking around here past hours for an indecent amount of time?” Sarcasm dripped from his words. Peter’s smile immediately turned a little panicky and a whole lot sheepish. Check mate.

“Why’d you do it kid? Isn’t this all a little against your morals as a good guy?” At the man’s slightly disappointed tone, the high schooler turned fully to face his mentor, fire in his eyes.

“He was awful, Mr. Stark! He may have contributed to the scientific field but he was a terrible father to you and he created awful things of destruction for his entire life without ever caring. Kids shouldn’t be looking up to him.”

Tony took a moment to gather his baring after the kid’s outburst. Putting a hand of the kid’s shoulder, the man spoke, “Kid, you do know I did pretty much the same things for most of my life, right? I appreciate the sentiment but I don’t think I’m exactly the right guy for the school.”

“But it’s not the same Mr. Stark! You looked at your life and realized what you were doing was wrong! Howard never regretted a single thing he did, never thought of the repercussions as long as he got what he wanted in the end. You’re nothing like him.” before Tony could cut the kid off with a self deprecating quip, he was right back at it again.

“And don’t try to tell me you’re the same way. You created Iron Man, you’re a pioneer in renewable energy, you give to countless charities and schools. Yes, you’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Tony couldn’t stop the little nidge of disappointment that lodged itself in his throat at that, but it didn’t last long, “but you changed. Every day you wake up and make the world a better place, and people are starting to see that. Parents and children are starting to see that. And they’re starting to realize we should all be a little more like Tony Stark.”

Tony was stunned into silence. There was no way he deserved the kid standing next to him’s passion. He had done nothing deserving of having sweet, kind, nobel Peter Parker in his life. But god, was he thankful.

Tony was so caught up in the emotions evoked by Peter’s word’s that he almost missed his last handful of mumbled words, “That man up there now is the one who deserves to be there.”

Before either of them knew it, Tony had the kid wrapped up in a tight hug.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter’s muffled voice questioned.

“Shhhh kid, save me some pride and let me hug you in silence” Tony muttered. Soon enough the hug ended, both boys sharing a brief smile before breaking the moment.

“So, uh, you wanna take a picture with it?” Peter asked shyly, causing the man next to him to bust out laughing.

“Sure squirt, but don’t think I’m leaving here without selfies with the rest of you friend’s additions. Herschel, Franklin, and Globes here aren’t getting out of this photo shoot.” Tony said, making Peter beam up at him.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this! I've only recently gotten back into the fanfiction game so I'm sorry for any glaring errors. I'm always open to constructive criticism though! It's also been years since I've written any real dialog, so sorry for any problems there, too.


End file.
